-Western society in Europe in the 19th century reshaped the world. European nations jumped to expand their territory and scoop up natural resources from other areas of the world. Racism and political superiority drove European nations to try and assimilate other cultures into their own and take their land without remorse. "New" Imperialism was the capstone of Europe's economic and technological transformation.
Chapter Objective:
-In this chapter I hope to learn about what "New" Imperialism actually is and about European migration.
Essential Question:
-What are the "3 C's" of "New" Imperialism?
-The "3 C's" are Commerce, Christianity, and Civilization.
-This cartoon depicts Africa being pulled into different directions by all the European powers hungry for her territory. It depicts "New" Imperialism because all of the European nations are trying to expand their empires and Africa just happened to be rich in land and resources. The artist titled his cartoon "The Mad Scramble for Africa" and it looks like the European nations are struggling to take hold of the land in which they are pulling on. The Europeans all want a slice of the African pie and I think that this cartoon pretty accurately depicts the fight for African territory during the 19th century. 
-This cartoon depicts the "Great White Walls" in America during the 19th century. These laws restricted Asian immigration. The artist seems to be mocking the Americans because of the way he depicts them chasing the Chinese man away. The American looks silly with the legs of Uncle Sam. The artist depicts the racist sentiment of the time with the "steam washer" on the head of the American. Personally I really like this cartoon. It depicts the "Great White Walls" exactly as I would've. It's a really well drawn political cartoon.
-This current US political cartoon depicts all of the US troops leaving Iraq with a big billboard calling Americans "Imperialist Pigs". The American troops are saying that they are glad that the money used for reconstruction is going to good use. The artist seems to be annoyed that America is "Imperialistic" and they seem to be trying to bash America for going into Iraq and taking out Saddam Hussein. I think this cartoon is ridiculous. The US obviously was not imperialistic while in Iraq. We did not take any territory to build our "empire". We simply went in to take out a sadistic dictator and help out. I personally do not like this political cartoon.
Question: Do you think the United States is/has been imperialistic?
-I think that the US is currently not imperialistic as we have not taken any territory from any other country to build our "empire", like in Iraq. We simply went in to take out a horrible dictator. However back in 1899 when the Philippine-American war happened and the US took over the Philippines, that was imperialistic. The US can be imperialistic though because we have a tendency to go into other countries and take natural resources like oil. The US's Manifest Destiny can be considered imperialistic because we expanded West and took the land that the Native Americans were living off of and mined gold and silver. Currently though I think the US only intercedes into foreign affairs to quell conflict and ease tensions, not expand and scoop up everyone's resources.
-The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was one of the most significant restrictions on Chinese immigration into the US in our history. The US government suspended the immigration of the Chinese from China a total of 10 years. This act was made permanent in 1902, but was repealed in 1943. The US did not want any more Chinese laborers entering the states, so they created an act to suspend their entrance. This act was signed by President Chester Arthur.
-This US event that took place in 1882 can be linked across continents to China in 1900 when the Boxer Rebellion happened. It's ironic because China was attempting to rid itself of foreign influence (the US) while in 1882 the US was trying to rid itself of the Chinese. 
-The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was passed by US President Andrew Jackson. It was a law that stated that Indians of the Southern states needed to migrate to the Western territories past the Mississippi River. The people of the South (the non-natives) supported the Removal Act in hopes of getting more territory. Especially in Georgia. The act was in theory voluntary, but in reality it was forced upon the Native Americans.
-This US event connects across continents because in Greece in 1830, the Greeks won their independence from the Ottoman Empire. Just like the Americans were trying to remove the Native Americans, the Greeks were trying to rid themselves of the Ottomans.Maji Maji Rebellion:
-The Maji Maji Rebellion (or War) was a violent uprising in a German colony of East Africa. The Germans wanted to force the Africans to grow cotton for export and the Africans revolted. The Germans had a weak hold on much of East Africa so when the revolt happened the Germans had to take control with brutal force. The labor and agriculture policies enforced by Germany and the oncoming drought brought the Africans to rebel. Sadly this uprising was unsuccessful and the German's were victorious.
The Uprising in Ukraine:
-The uprisings in Ukraine began in November 2013 after the President broke his promises of linking Ukraine closer to Europe. Instead the President leans closer towards Russia. Ukraine relied heavily on Russia for natural gas and Russia just recently gave Ukraine a boat load of money to bail out Ukraine's economy. This highly annoyed and angered many Western Ukrainians who were in favor of the President working out an agreement with the EU and bringing Ukraine closer to Europe. It is now March of 2014 and the revolts are getting deadly and are of a much larger scale. The President has had to flee and Russia's President, Putin is moving in troops to occupy Ukraine, creating what looks like a recurrence of the Cold War. So far the revolts seem to be pretty successful as they have not been crushed.
The Suez Canal Today:
-The Suez Canal is a single lane canal opened in 1869. It is an artificial waterway in Egypt that connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Seawater flows freely through this canal and currently the canal is owned by the Suez Canal Authority of Egypt. The Suez canal is used today for transporting oil to various countries which is pretty important and it seems to get pretty frequent usage.
Self Reflection:
-Personally, I liked this chapter. "New" Imperialism was a pretty cool topic to talk about and I learned a lot. I learned that the US got Japan to open up to European society at that time and then Japan decided to Westernize and Modernize to accommodate the times. I also learned that Africa was a pretty important piece to European expansion and the building of different "empires". I didn't really like talking about South Africa and the apartheid though because I didn't really know anything about it going in so it was all totally new to me. European expansion and the taking of natural resources and the "3 C's" were all interesting parts of this chapter. I like chapters like these. It wasn't totally political and it wasn't completely boring, which made for a decent chapter.
